5 THINGS I ADMIRE ABOUT BILLY GRAHAM

The Lasting Impact of a Legendary Preacher

I saw Billy Graham preach twice. Once in 1981, as a college freshman, in Houston. The second time was 21-years later. I was a pastor in south Texas and travelled ten hours to Dallas, Texas to hear Billy only because I knew it might be the last time I would have the chance to do so. He retired from preaching five years later, never having returned to Texas. So I was right.

Billy Graham

It was a privilege to be a very small part of his ministry on both occasions. I have followed him from the time I was very young (having parents who were big fans — Billy Graham over Elvis Presley any day of the week).  I became particularly interested after I became a preacher. I have read most of his books as well as three biographies and one autobiography, Just as I am.

Those are not necessarily stellar qualifications. But, here I offer my top five reasons I (and so many others) admire Billy Graham.

 

5 Things I Most Admire About Billy Graham

1. Humility

This is perhaps his defining characteristic.

Billy Graham felt insecure in the presence of other, well-educated, and more eloquent preachers. He was regularly attacked by the far right and left of Christianity. In one particularly brutal critique by brilliant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, in which Niebuhr criticized Graham’s preaching as an oversimplification of Christianity, Graham responded, “When Dr. Niebuhr makes his criticisms about me, I study them, for I have respect for them. I think he has helped me to apply Christianity to the social problems we face and has helped me to comprehend what those problems are.” He went on to tell one reporter, “I have read everything Mr. Niebuhr has written, and I feel inadequate before his brilliant mind and learning.” 1

When Billy Graham preached at my Seminary one of my professors was asked to escort him from place to place. He tells the story of sitting with Graham in the office of the Seminary president. Graham was about to preach to a chapel packed with seminary students and professors. As he sat in the president’s office he was visibly nervous. He told my professor, “I always get so nervous preaching to all these learned men.” Then my professor told me, “I don’t know why he was so nervous. When he preached that day, the heavens opened up.”

Billy Graham was humble.

2. Boldness

Graham never seemed to waver in the face of criticism and cultural pressure. His first big success was in the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade where he preached a simple message of the devastating impact of sin and called for repentance to an extremely cynical, and secular Hollywood culture. The campaign was scheduled for three weeks, but it was extended to eight weeks. During the campaign Graham spoke to 350,000 people, by the end, 3,000 of them decided to convert to Christianity. After this crusade, Graham became a national figure in the United States.

He was extremely concerned in 1954 when he preached in London, and equally fearful in 1957 when he held a crusade in Madison Square Garden, the heart of New York City. These were two of the most liberal cities in the world at that time. Many told him not to go — that few would show up and it would be a disaster. But, Billy Graham didn’t back down nor did he change his core message of sin and repentance.

In London, more than 2,000,000 people attended the Crusade meetings, and nearly 40,000 made a commitment to Christ. In New York City, the longest running crusade of his career, there were nearly 2 million attendees at the regular meetings; 400,000 at miscellaneous and overflow meetings and more than 60,000 decision cards turned in.

Billy Graham never back down from a challenge. He was bold.

3. Courage

Graham was courageous in many ways, but few as important as his early stand against segregation. In the 1950’s, a time when segregation was a hotbed issue in the south, Billy refused to segregate his crusades. In a 1956 Life Magazine article, Graham proclaimed that racial prejudice was a sin. The following year he invited Howard O. Jones, a young black pastor from Cleveland, to join his team. At his Madison Square Garden Crusade, he invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to join him on the stage and to close the meeting with prayer. 2

Throughout the 1960’s he maintained his commitment to “non-segregated” crusades and even in the south insisted that black leaders be seated on the platform and have a visible role in the program. During the Civil Right Marches of the sixties he “called for the prosecution of whites who attacked blacks who were peacefully demonstrating to obtain the rights that should unquestionably be theirs.” 3

Billy Graham was courageous.

4. Integrity

Billy Graham preached to millions of people in public crusades (avoiding the temptation of the more financially lucrative, but arguably, less effective television industry) for more than fifty years, without a single hint of personal moral failure. Billy Graham was not perfect. He was the first to admit that he was a sinner, just like the rest of us. But, in a scandal-ridden profession, he lived and worked with an astonishing integrity.

At his 1965 Houston Crusade, a Christian businessman had invited a fellow corporate executive who was not a believer to join him. They arrived to the stadium early. As the crowds poured into the brand-new Astrodome, the corporate executive stared in awe. The dome filled to capacity and overflowed onto the field. There were 61,000 in attendance, 10,000 more than any sporting event at that time. The corporate executive turned to his Christian friend and asked him, “Why is this happening?” And his friend said, “I’m not sure.” And after a thoughtful pause, concluded, “Maybe it’s because God knows his glory is safe in Billy Graham’s hands.” 4

Billy Graham lived with integrity.

5. Devotion

In 1937, at the age of nineteen and a sophomore in college, Billy Graham asked Emily Cavanaugh to marry him. She hesitated, said yes, and then a few months later recanted. She was plagued with doubt about the seriousness of the young Graham. A few months later she was dating another, older, more serious student. A close friend admitted that she wanted to marry a man who was going to amount to something and didn’t think Billy was going to make it. It was devastating to Billy.

He mourned the loss for months. Around midnight, one evening as he returned to campus from one of his brooding walks, he knelt out in an open field and said, “All right, Lord, if you want me, you’ve got me. I’ll be what you want me to be and I’ll go where you want me to go.” And that was it.  He had his call to preach. And the rest is history. 5

Billy Graham never looked back.

Something that is rarely mentioned is the incredible work-ethic associated with what Billy Graham did. Preaching night after night for days and weeks on end was physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting.

Billy Graham was devoted.

 

RIP, Mr. Billy Graham. You were one-of-a-kind. We will miss you.

 

Los Angeles Crusade, 1949

Los Angeles Crusade, 1949

Trafalgar Square, London, 1954

London, 1954

Madison Square Garden, 1957

Madison Square Garden, NYC, 1957

MLK and Billy Graham

Billy Graham and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Billy Graham Crusade Choir

Billy Graham Crusade Integrated Choir, 1954

Billy Graham with four presidents

Billy Graham with Bush, Carter, and Clinton

Billy Graham

Billy Graham, devoted Evangelist for sixty years